It is not just a question of managing, but also of sharing and inspiring. Creating an organizational culture is a key factor for any company’s success in the digital era, according to this McKinsey report.

And at a time of technological disruption, this task–the report highlights–can be obstructed mainly by three barriers:

– Fear of innovating.– Limited customer focus.– Creation of silos.

Obstacles, McKinsey’s report observes, particularly difficult to break down in the digital era, but that also have an impact on the good performance of a business venture.

Faced with the situation, what can today’s leaders do to break down these barriers and bring themselves closer to their teams?

Here are some keys:

Build a culture without fear of failure

This is conductive to innovation, helps to drive the company beyond its traditional barriers, and opens it up to other sectors and areas of activity. Technology has changed the rules of the game in many sectors, prompting the arrival of new actors or the mutation–to survive–of existing ones.

McKinsey points out, in this respect, how this cultural change in companies must start from the top down, and suggests that leaders apply a series of measures such as the democratizing innovation and understanding that mistakes always lead to learning (or success). The report also asks leaders to learn to delegate and work with teams beyond the bounds of hierarchies.

To do that, however, the leader should surround him or herself by the right people, and have the ability to detect talent within his or her organization, knowing how to spark an agile and disruptive mentality, in line with the digital world.

Client, client, and client

If you want to know your clients, design initiatives that allow you not only to keep in constant contact with them, but to fully interact with your clients, learning more about them and strengthening their loyalty.

Companies that are practically masters of digital user experiences, like Apple or Amazon, have led consumers to perceive and demand the memorable as standard; thus, any company that does not nurture this aspect is doomed to lose points in the market.

But not everything is as hard as it seems. McKinsey points out that this customer-minded approach, apart from strengthening loyalty, can help companies reduce risks, for example through co-creation of new products and services with consumers, validated and tested with them before their launch, or by knowing the opinion of consumers to improve other existing products and services.

Redistribute knowledge and opportunities

A way of working based on secrecy and the absence of a will to collaborate with others is understood to be part of the past and incoherent with the digital paradigm.

When there are barriers to information, or when it falls into the wrong hands, finding a solution to problems becomes more difficult.

Breaking up silos means offering the entire organization a global vision and, above all, putting forward the strategy and common objectives for everyone to achieve together.

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